“He weighs more than the player before him”
FC Seoul head coach Kim Ki-dong was pleased with the performances of Kang Hyun-moo and Yazan, who both performed well on their debuts.
Seoul won 2-1 away from home against Pohang in the 26th round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 at Pohang Steel Yard on Nov. 11. After taking an early lead through Cho Young-wook, Seoul equalized through Jeon Min-kwang, but Pohang’s Lee Seung-mo scored the winner to secure a one-goal victory.
With the three points and a third consecutive victory, Seoul is in sixth place with 11 W, 6 D, 9 L, and 39 points. Pohang remained in fourth place (12 W, 8 D, 6 L, 44 points). Kim Ki-dong, who led Pohang until last season, earned his first win over Pohang since taking over at Seoul.
Seoul went with a 4-4-1-1 formation on the day. Kang Hyun-moo donned the goalkeeper’s gloves, while Kang Sang-woo, Kim Joo-sung, Yazan, and Yoon Jong-kyu were in defense. Lee Seung-mo, Choi Jun, Willian, and Cho Young-wook were in the midfield, with Kang Sung-jin at the top of the second and Il Ryuchenko up front.
It was the third time Kim Ki-dong, who coached Pohang until last season, visited the Steel Yard as Seoul’s head coach. The teams have met three times this season, including the Korea Cup, with one draw and two losses.
They lost the first meeting at home 2-4 in April and drew 2-2 away in May. The most recent defeat came in the Korea Cup quarterfinals against Pohang, where they conceded five goals. Kim Ki-dong, who has only fond memories of his time in charge of Pohang, has yet to smile in the Steel Yard since his arrival in Seoul.
On this day, Kim finally tasted victory against Pohang. After taking the lead through Cho Young-wook in the fourth minute of the first half, Seoul conceded a header from Jeon Min-kwang early in the second half, but a fantastic mid-range finish from Pohang’s Lee Seung-mo secured the away win.
In the post-match press conference, Kim said, “As I said before the game, it was a big moment for our team and a big moment for Pohang. The point of today’s game was to take the three points, regardless of everything. Pohang scored a lot of goals, and we don’t like to defend from the bottom, but they have a lot of fast players, so we didn’t want to give them space, and it worked out well and we got the three points.” “We’re trying to figure out what kind of football we should play, but it’s not easy to change the big picture, but we have to make changes according to the points. Today we tried to defend tightly and not give them any space. I think we defended 토토사이트 추천 until the end and got the three points,” he reflected on the match.
“When people ask me how Seoul are, I always say they are technical, they kick the ball well, but they don’t play soccer. Today, I told them that if we can win the transition issues, the fight, the one-on-one battles, we can win the game, so we focused more on that and asked them to do that.”
Kim was also looking forward to Yazan’s performance in his debut. “I had faith in him, so I put him in the starting lineup. Compared to the player before him, he brought a lot of weight to the team, and his weight, one-on-one competition, and ball-forward quality will help the team in the future,” Kim said.
After beating Pohang for the first time, Kim said, “We prepared to win, and they gave us so much. They said they wanted to win this time. I think we won at a crucial time,” he said.
As for his goals for this season, he said, “Before this game, I couldn’t see the top. We were fighting against the bottom for a few games. If we didn’t do well, it was a relegation battle. Now that we’re in the break, we’re starting to see the top, so we prepared for today’s game and the next game at home against Jeju as if it’s going to be a year’s work.” “It’s important to close the gap on fourth place and do what we want. I think it would be rash to target the ACL. We’ll make it stronger and set the next goal with the players.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve played, so I think it was a little bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing, and I think I had some muscle problems. I think he did his job well enough. I was quick in the moment and did a good job covering the back and building up. I think it was the right time for him to come in because he hadn’t played in a long time, but I thought it was the right time for him to come in and he did a good job.”
Regarding Lee Tae-seok’s performance, Kim said, “I think he wore the wrong clothes when he came out as a right wing forward, but other than that, I think he did what he could.”
Finally, Kim said, “We have to prepare for Jeju so that the way we have come is not in vain. I know that Jeju has the Korea Cup, but we have time to prepare, so I think we will give it our all, but it’s our home, so we will play to win.”